Easy Split Green Peasy Dhal

When the freezer is bare, the piggy bank is empty and the nights are cold there's one thing that will fill you up and keep you warm.

Dhal.

My favourite is made from split green peas because I find it easier to find big bags of them. I use sesame oil for a little flavour boost (and to make it vegan friendly) but you can use ghee or even regular butter if you don't want to clarify it yourself.

Ingredients:

Half an onion, diced

1 tbsp sesame oil (ghee or butter)

1 cup split green peas, washed

2 cups water (or stock)

2 tsp fresh garlic, grated

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp cayenne (or chilli) powder

1 tbsp tomato paste (Optional)

In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot, cook off your onion in sesame oil (or ghee/butter) with the garlic and ginger on a low heat until the onion is soft and transparent (you don't want it too brown or for the garlic and ginger to burn or you'll get a bitter note).

Put everything else in and turn up the heat until you get a rolling boil then lower the heat to a simmer and put the lid on and leave it for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the peas are soft and start to break up.

You can adapt the amount of any of the spices to your taste, including adding salt and pepper.

Serve with warm bread. I like to eat mine with my home made tortillas.

Hummus

I love having hummus in the house as a snack with carrot sticks or as a butter replacement on a sandwich.

Ingredients

1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas

1 tsp minced garlic (or about 1 clove)

1 tsp cumin

A good squeeze of lemon juice

A long drizzle of mild olive oil.

Throw everything into a bender and go until its smooth. Add more lemon and garlic to taste. If it's too thick add water 1tsp at a time and blend some more.

If you want to look extra fancy then swirl it in the serving dish and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Alternatively, you can eat it out of a tub with fresh tortilla served on a bunnikins plate.

Quick Moroccan Vegan Casserole

Some very dear friends of mine are Vegan but I still love having them over for dinner so I've refined a couple of dishes that we can all enjoy. 

My requirements for vegan dishes is that I don't need weird ingredients that will only be used in very specific vegan dishes so this one is works well for us.

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can of diced tomatoes

Moroccan spice mix

Baby spinach leaves

Throw the chickpeas and tomato into a saucepan with a heaped teaspoon of spice mix and cook on a low heat until its just bubbling. Taste and add more spice if required then leave it on a low simmer while you make any sides (I usually serve this with couscous) then when your sides are ready chuck in a few handfuls of baby spinach and give it a stir. You only want to cook the spinach enough to wilt it which is why I have my sides ready.

That's it, you're done!